at the start
of a new chapter —
I slip in a bookmark

(for @KrisLindbeck)

mailbox spiderweb —
“Did we get anything good?” 
father’s daily plea

involuntary —
thoughts of our night together
spilling into day

last call —
starlings by the treeful
talking out of turn

was the great horned owl
haunted by us afterwards
as we were by her?

running through fog
before the world wakes up —
can I trust the earth?

mourning routine —
a few minutes in the car
arranging my face

(for JD)

early autumn —
walks that start in darkness,
chestnuts underfoot

rudbeckia stems
in a slow-falling tangle —
autumnal equinox